When the show was over, we were all excited. The club owner came up to John and told him how disappointed he was that Haggard was asked to get up and play. He said and I quote, "the people came to see Johnny Bush and the Bandoleros not Merle Haggard, he is a local act around here and they can see him anytime." Johnny Bush said, and I quote again,
"Merle Haggard is a superstar no matter where he is and he can have my stage any day of the week".

In 1998, I was with The Flying Burrito Brothers recording a project entitled "Sons Of The Golden West" for Arista Records out of New York to be distributed by The Grateful Dead Record Label.

We had a few guests on the project such as Ricky Skaggs, the Oak Ridge Boys, Alison Krauss, Sam Bush and Delbert McClinton so we decided to call Merle to see if he would sing Mama's Hungry Eyes with me on the project. To our delight, he said yes. When we ask him if he could still do the song in the key of "D" he replied, if I can't still do it in "D" I need to get out of show business. It turned out to be one of my most cherished recordings.

Thanks again Merle for sharing your spotlight with me one more time.    PREVIOUS STORY     STORIES INDEX